Tuesday 25 January 2011

Wednesday 26th January -actually posted on the day I write it!!

It has been so, so long since I last wrote! We are now back in Brisbane and heading to New Zealand this evening! Our campervan adventure is complete –we have done the East Coast of Australia! It’s very strange to think that I was still living in a campervan yesterday but now it’s all in the past! I can’t figure out if it went quickly or slowly, Cairns definitely feels like a long time ago but have I really been living out of a van that long?! Anyway I will update you on everything that has happened since I last wrote...well at least see how far I can get before I run out of time!

So, after we had been to the caves we headed to Lakes Entrance where we stopped briefly. We walked over the lake across a bridge to the lake and experienced the most ridiculous wind. It was so windy that it was painful standing on the beach due to the sand being blown up and whipped into our legs! After that we didn’t stay very long and headed to a rest stop to sleep for the night. After that we drove to the other end of 90-mile beach to a small village called Seaspray. It was a nice beach and we had a game of beach cricket there. I was amazed by my skills when I managed to catch Ryan out! It was the first I’d ever caught anyone out...EVER! I was ridiculously pleased with myself; Ryan even awarded me a shell as a prize :D.

From Seaspray we drove on to Wilson’s Prom. I had previously been told by an old man we met at a rest stop that it’s the closest to Scotland you will get in Australia! It was very beautiful driving through the mountainous park to Tidal River the main settlement. Although there was a large proportion of the forest that had been completely burnt. You don’t see that very often in Scotland. We got an icecream at Tidal River before heading off on the 50 minute walk to Squeaky beach where the sand is so fine it squeaks when you walk on it. It was quite a nice walk through forest, over a hill to the beach. We explored the beach and the maze of rocks at one end of it. We saw one boy climb up onto a huge steep rock and then trying to figure out how he was going to get down. He must have made it though as we saw him on the other side of the rocks later. On the walk back to Tidal River we rounded a corner to see a snake lying in the middle of the path. Ryan hadn’t seen it and was heading its way before I warned him! The snake was pretty little only about 1m long and didn’t seem too interested in us as it slithered into the bush to find some food. As we carried on round the path we saw a man stopped ahead of us. As we approached we saw that there was a wild wombat! It was so lovely and even went up to the man to sniff his shoes. We must have spent about 20 minutes watching this wombat and were even able to stroke him. He seemed pretty oblivious just wandering around munching on the grass. It was amazing that we could get so close to him, he must have gotten quite tame as so many people walk along the path. I think this may even have been my best animal encounter in Australia (apart from the penguins)! We were so close to him and he just didn’t care! We only left because we knew it would be getting dark soon and if you’re not camping you’re supposed to be out of the park by sundown. As we drove back we saw even more wildlife. There was a herd of kangaroos in a field alongside the road –there were so many of them! We then saw a wallaby as well as we drove out of the park. We stopped at a rest stop just after the park exit ready for a big day tomorrow at Philip Island.

Philip Island was amazing! First of all we went to Panny’s chocolate factory where we consumed far too much chocolate. The start of the tour shows you the history of chocolate and old fashioned advertisements before you walk through to a wall-sized mosaic of Dame Edna and a chocolate Michelangelo’s David! You carry on to see a chocolate model village and games where you can win chocolate. We managed to master a game shooting chocolate balls into a slide so that you can collect them. Delicious! There were also chocbots –robots who fetch you chocolate with a choice of milk, white or dark chocolate. They were a little slow but you won every time! We spent a little while just collecting chocolate here! There was even a chocolate waterfall there and you could make your own chocolate shapes by writing in melted chocolate. In the last part of the tour you can see into the kitchens where the chocolatiers are actually making the chocolates before you! By the time we left we were both feeling rather sick and thought it was probably about time we left. We headed on to The Nobbies an information centre and viewing area for the Seals on Seal Rocks. We didn’t actually see any seals but we did see our first penguin! He was very cute and probably still a baby as he had been left there during the day. As we walked along the boardwalk he was standing at the edge of his burrow. He was so cute and little!

The evening was spent at the Penguin Parade where there are more penguins than you could ever dream of seeing! The evening started sat in stands waiting for the penguins to come in from the sea. As we were waiting we saw something swimming through the water which we think was actually a seal! The penguins started to appear slowly, tiny little speckles in the waves. They would bob around until enough of them had appeared that they might have the courage to make their way across the beach to the bank. The beach is where they feel the most vulnerable as there is nothing to obscure or protect them. It took a long time for them to make it across the beach. They would start making their way out of the water but be scared back in so many times. They seemed to get scared by the slightest thing, even just a seagull flying above them would have them running back to the safety of the water. Eventually one of the groups started to walk across, all in a line as if in a procession. From there on more and more came out of the water. People started to disperse as the penguins started to climb up the banks so we were able to go right to the front to watch them. We then went up to the boardwalk to watch all the penguins making their ways home. We saw baby penguins being fed (which is really their parents puking in their mouths) and even saw out of season mating which I first mistook for fighting! Some of the penguins were getting tired on their way home and stopped in the middle of their tracks to lie down for a snooze! They were so cute and we were so close to them! It was an amazing evening and we stayed watching the penguins until the very end when even the staff started to get ready to leave.

We stopped for the night in a beachside car park where in the morning we went for a run! I have never been a fan of jogging but it wasn’t actually so bad! We then drove into Melbourne for the day. The rain was torrential that day and we later heard that it had actually flooded although we managed to get out in time. We spent some time on the internet at first –Ryan booked his NZ flights and we started to make our plans. We then headed to a Nando’s for lunch as we were both craving it. Although felt a bit disappointed after as it was a Nando’s in a food court and just does not compare to Nando’s back home. I have decided to try and avoid it till I’m home now. We had a little look around the town which is quite nice, lots of little lanes of cute shops. I managed to buy some ridiculously cheap $1-2 books from a bookstore clearance sale but am now thinking there may have been a reason they were so cheap as they haven’t turned out to be the best books so far. From Melbourne we headed to a service station to stop for the night before heading off to drive the Great Ocean Road!

The Great Ocean Road was an amazing drive. The first day was spent driving to Torquay where we played some cricket on the beach and I managed to fall in the wet sand before carrying on to Anglesea where we barbequed bacon and eggs for lunch before hiring a pedalo. I had been wanting to get a pedalo for ages so Ryan gave in and went with me. We had a lovely time until the end when Ryan realise that he had been doing most of the pedalling and I had somehow accidently not been pushing hard enough. I genuinely did not realise though until Ryan decided to stop pedalling! We carried on stopping at the Round the Twist Lighthouse before carrying on to Lorne where we walked along the old pier and got a snack before finding our way around the back roads as the Great Ocean Road had been closed due to a landslide! It added about an extra 100km to our journey! We stayed at a really lovely campsite be the beach though in a little place called Johanna which really did seem to only be the campsite. The sea was absolutely wild there though it appeared to be moving in every direction because of all the currents in it and waves were splashing up as they collided with each other! The next day we drove further along the Great -Ocean Road to the area where all the big sites are. We first stopped at the 12 apostles –rock formations where they have become separated from the land. It was so beautiful, I felt like I was looking at a postcard! We took lots of pictures then as we were heading back to the van we saw an Echidna snuffling his nose through the mud looking for ants. He was the last Australian animal that I was hoping to see so I was so happy to see him. And he was a cutie pie. He’s managed to cover himself in mud looking for ants to eat, and was snuffling around right up by the fence! It’s amazing to think that they are mammals but lay eggs!

From the Apostles we drove to Port Campbell where we stopped for lunch in a cafe, I think it was actually one of the best meals we’ve had on the trip! I had a chicken schnitzel burger and it was delicious! From there we went to London Bridge a formation that had 2 arches but one fell in 1990 leaving 2 people stranded on the other side. Apparently they were actually having an affair so once they got airlifted to safety they ran away to avoid all the press! I wonder what happened there?! We then went to the arch and The Grotto (more formations), and Loch ard Gorge where there are supposed to be shipwrecks in the water. We stopped at the same campsite that night and even went for a jog in the morning. It was absolutely horrible though because the sand was so soft –did not find this one enjoyable at all! We drove back towards Melbourne, stopping at Apollo Bay where we cooked eggs, played cricket, and ate buns. This time the rest of the Great Ocean Road was open where the landslide was so we did get to drive along it all! It was very beautiful with the road going right along the cliff edge the whole way. We stopped at the service station near Melbourne ready for some sightseeing the next day.

We got the train into Melbourne and wandered around a bit. We went to Federation Square we went to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). This was fun as there were lots of interactive exhibits to play with. We mixed sound and pictures to make our own versions of movies, filmed ourselves, and started making a flipbook. It was an interesting place but a lot to see there. We got lunch and then went to a shopping centre for a drink where we discovered Breadtop. The most amazing Asian bakery! It was all delicious! We then headed to the park to see Cook’s cottage where he used to live. Only when we got there did we realise that it is not where he lived in Australia but was shipped over from the UK and rebuilt here! This seemed pretty ridiculous to us –why move a house?! We also saw a model Tudor village in the park, and the fairy tree which had been carved by an author who also wrote a book about it. We then got a train home ready for our big day tomorrow...

Tuesday = NEIGHBOURS TOUR! We had booked on to a Neighbours tour whilst in town on Monday and we had a great time. We drove past the school –although I didn’t actually recognise as the school before going to the studios where we saw the garage, Lou’s car sales, greasy monkeys and the old thrift store and met DR KARL! Alan Fletcher was so lovely, one of the friendliest people you could ever meet he seemed so pleased to see us all. We had pictures and he signed postcards for us. We then went to the actual Ramsey Street. It was tiny! It was just a little close but it seems so big on TV! We saw all the houses and took pictures –it was pretty exciting to be there. We didn’t get to see any filming though as they hadn’t started back yet. It’s strange that people actually live on those houses and all the indoors scenes are actually filmed in the studio!

After our tour we were dropped off in St Kilda the seaside town of Melbourne. It seemed like a typical British seaside resort with a pier and rides. Except that we saw a penguin on the pier! We had a walk through the town before getting a tram back to the CBD to catch the train home.

So the next day was Ryan’s Birthday! We woke up and he gave him his presents (wrapped in newspaper) a mini toblerone, a gingerbread man, a $1 book on WWII and tickets to the Melbourne Open! We drove into town for the tennis and bought snacks to take in before heading to Melbourne Park. We had a lovely day and I relearned everything that I’d forgotten since Wimbledon. We saw Fish losing to start with, and then moved courts to watch Tomas Berdych, my new favourite tennis player, win! We were sat near a huge group of his fans who were chanting and seemed to have a different song every time. He pretty much became my favourite because of his fans songs (which me and Ryan have been singing on our way back to Brisbane). We had a little wander around after this- there were loads of stalls giving away freebies but we just ended up going to the ones with the short ques. We got free neck coolers and banners. We then went to watch some more tennis and saw Haase win his match. After this we headed to the Imperial leather tent for a cooling foot spray and a goodie bag, Ryan bought some merchandise and we watched tennis on the big screen before realising that the Bryan brothers were playing so headed to see them. They are the best double players in the world and were pretty amazing to watch, they won games within minutes. When they won they bumped chests –apparently their signature move but I found it rather amusing! We watched some of the Federer match on the big screen before heading off. On the way back to the car we stopped in the park for birthday cake. I had great difficulty lighting the candles though as they kept on getting blown out by the wind. I managed it eventually though, and the caramel mud cake I’d bought was delicious.

The next 5 days were spent travelling back to Brisbane although we did stop at a few places on the way back. On the first day we stopped at the sight of Ned Kelly’s last stand where his gang in their armour and the police fought until he was captured and taken to Melbourne Gaol to be hung. It was interesting to be there but there wasn’t all that much to see. Although the train station has been rebuilt as it was at the time and is now let out as a holiday cottage. We didn’t do much on the 2nd day as we had planned to make our way past Sydney, although we did manage to fit a game of cricket in at the service station where we stopped for the night. We spent a lot of the 3rd day at beaches in Newcastle. They had a kite flying fair going on so there were loads of kites in the sky. We went swimming in a lagoon on the beach and it was lovely. There was so much salt in the water that you couldn’t help but float you were so naturally buoyant in it. The 4th day was spent visiting Port Macquarie where we went to the beach which was really pretty. I sat on a rock reading before having a paddle with Ryan. We then ate some fish and chips watching the local cricket team before going on a tour of the Koala hospital. They had the oldest wild koala in the world there. ‘Birthday Girl’ is nearly 25. She first went to the hospital when she was 3 years old and now has been living there for the last 7 years. We saw many koalas there. One with a humpback and scoliosis was renowned for escaping his pen every night! I would love to be able to give a lot of money to places like this. There is only one member of staff so it is pretty much run by volunteers and they don’t get any government funding. We spent the 5th day driving to Lennox heads where we went to Lake Ainsworth where the water is stained by the oil from the tea trees around its edge. The lake was overflowing onto the road and park but was lovely to swim in. After our swim we carried on to Byron Bay where we had a wander, got some food and played some more crickets-which Ryan won again. That night we stayed at a rest stop where we played cards with a Canadian couple who were just starting out on their journey. And yesterday we arrived in Brisbane! We sorted out the bus passes for NZ, spent some time on the internet, got lunch in town and went to see Black Swan. Which is really quite good if a little gory. Today I have been packing ready for New Zealand in a few hours!!

Hope you all are well. It’s good to finally be up to date with my blog, even if it is going to be another 2 weeks before I write again.

Lots of love,

Claire xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Friday 21 January 2011

Monday 10th January

After Kiama we headed to Kangaroo Valley to camp for the night. It was the loveliest free campsite you could imagine. I was amazed it was free. It was huge and ran along the side of a river with plenty of places you could get in and swim. It wasn’t too chilli and I even had a go on the rope swing to launch myself into the river! After a swim we headed back to the van for some dinner and were hopeful of seeing a wombat. Ryan had overheard someone saying the bridge was a good place to stop one so I had a look for it on the campsite map but there didn’t seem to be anything. As I told Ryan h0ow sad I was that I probably wouldn’t see a wombat he span me around and there was a wombat right by the sign I had just been looking at! We ended up seeing 5 wombats that night. One was in the night when I got up to go to the loo and it was right in front of our van. They were so cute and cuddly looking! The only bad thing was some of the kids at the campsite were chasing them which I was shocked at! There didn’t even seem to be any adults with them to tell them not to so other campers seemed to be telling them off.

The next day we drove further down the coast first of all stopping at the little national trust village of Central Tilba. It was very pretty although we managed to arrive before everything was open as we had got up early. There was a little market and cute little shops. We walked down to the cheese factory where we sampled some cheese. I really wanted to get some but it just won’t keep in the van. It was delicious though. We bought some fudge instead and a pie and pasty from the bakery. It was a lovely little village with really pretty wooden buildings and a lovely setting in a valley. We then headed on and stopped at a beach in Mollymook. We ate by the beach and then went down on the beach. We ended up playing the spinny game where you have to spin until you’re dizzy and then try and run towards the sea! It was a lot of fun but we both ended up feeling a little sick. The campground we stayed at that night was really quite nice as well. We went on a bushwalk to a lake. I much prefer the eucalypt forest to the rainforest as it’s a lot more open –more like the woods at home. And there are not so many creatures to worry about, although Ryan was banging his stick all the way to ward off snakes. We hadn’t planned to do the whole walk as it would be getting dark shortly, but as we reached the lake quickly I wanted to do it and Ryan went along with it, despite not being the biggest fan of walks. That night we were camped next to an old Scottish man who was from Melbourne and had moved here back in the 60s. He seemed to be talking to everybody –we thought it was probably so he didn’t have to talk to his wife as she looked like she was pretty grumpy!

On Saturday we were driving further south and stopped at a sign on the side of the road that said coastal walk. We went along the path until we came to a huge lake. I decided to go for a paddle and ended up getting half way across the lake with the water only coming up to my knees! It was so beautiful with the sea in the background. We then had my first ever game of beach cricket –using a stick for a bat, a pinecone for a ball, and a bottle for a stump. I surprised both of us by actually winning the game! After my win we headed back to the van and drove further down the coast we stopped at a beach called Beares beach where we spent some time just relaxing on the rocks looking out to sea. In the sun it felt like proper Australia, just how I had always imagined it. We then carried on to Eden where we went to the Killer Whale museum. There used to be a lot of whaling in the bay by Eden and the killer whales would actually help the people to hunt other species of whales. They would round them up into the bay and then alert the people who would come and kill the whale. They would then leave the carcass for the killer whales to eat the tongue and lips before bringing it to shore to harvest. The skeleton of Old Tom, the killer whale whose job was to alert the people of the whale the pod had captured was preserved in the museum. It was all very interesting but pretty horrific learning about how they harvested the whales for their oil. Apparently NASA still uses oil from the brains of whales as lubricant for their spacecrafts. We drove to a campsite near the Victorian border where we ended up making a campfire. Ryan initially tried to make a campfire with little success until I decided to help with the knowledge I had learned as a Girl Guide. It actually turned out really well –I didn’t realise I was even able to make a fire but it turns out Guides taught me pretty well. We sat by the fire as it got dark whilst Ryan played his guitar. Just like proper camping.

Yesterday we stopped at a beach town just as you enter Victoria although I can’t remember its name. It was another place where the lakes join the sea so you have the option of which you want to swim in. These places seem to be particularly popular with families as they can keep away from the dangerous surf. We saw a sign for a World War II bunker so went to have a look. It turned out that it was only open on Tuesday mornings though. Apparently it wasn’t used as an air raid shelter but was where they collected information from the boats out at sea to send to Melbourne, and also where they intercepted messages. After discovering it was closed we headed to the beach where we found loads of animal tracks, had a go at beach Olympics by doing the long jump and explored some of the secluded beaches over the rocks. From there we had to get some driving out of the way so made our way on to Orbost. We cooked chicken wraps in the park before playing my first game of park cricket. I managed to win 2 out of 3 games! It’s probably something I should have taken up earlier! Unfortunately play was rained off so we headed to a campsite and managed to watch half a film on my laptop before the battery died.

Today we have been to Buchan Caves; we had a tour of the Fairy Cave which was really beautiful. There are loads and loads of stalagmites and stalactites and things called blankets which are like sheets of rock hanging down and do actually look like blankets! There were some huge, pure white stalactites known as the Ivory Palace. There were a lot of sparkly crystals in the cave which were the reason it was given the name Fairy cave, because it was like a fairy wonderland. The cave we went through was around 500m long with the deepest point at 50m underground because it goes under a hill. The entire system of caves here is about 3km long though! I preferred these caves to the Capricorn Caves just because they were so pretty and there seemed to be a lot more to see.

Right now we are making the most of the facilities in the campsite by the caves before heading on to The Lakes Entrance and 90-mile-beach.

Lots of love xxx

6th January 2011

It’s been nearly 2 weeks since I last wrote and since then I have been body boarding all along the coast, been to the fireworks in Sydney for New Year’s Eve, swam in the Sydney Olympic swimming pool, visited the Blue Mountains, been to Bondi Beach and Botany Bay and am now in Kiami, South of Sydney. It feels like absolutely ages since Christmas –I guess because I’ve done so much since then.

So starting from the beginning....

On Boxing day we drove away from Byron Bay down the coast to Coffs Harbour stopping at Maclean, a little Scottish village where the lamp posts are painted tartan. I even managed to find the Keith tartan and get a picture of it! We thought we might be able to go to the sales in Coffs Harbour but it was 3pm by the time we arrived and the only thing left open was BigW –which is a bit like Asda Walmart without the food. So we went to look at the harbour which was quite pretty before heading inland past Bellingen to a free campsite.

The next morning we headed back to Bellingen which is a little craft town. Unfortunately all the shops seemed to be shut –some until the middle of January. So we moved on pretty quickly and drove down to Nambucca Heads. Nambucca Heads is a town where the river meets the sea and has a really pretty riverside and stunning beaches. We spent quite a while on the beach –I managed to sit and read for a while which was really nice whilst Ryan walked down the beach. Until all of a sudden I heard the first icecream van of the trip! I hurried down the beach to find Ryan and we both had rainbow ice creams, which were delicious –they tasted like an ice cream form of Zap lollies! We then went body boarding in the sea. It’s the best body boarding we’ve had so far –the waves were taken us right up the beach until the only thing stopping us was the friction from sliding up the sand! From Nambucca heads we drove down the highway to find a free rest stop but everything in our camping book seemed to not exist, not allow camping or be closed. We ended up driving about 150km to a rest stop past Port Macquarie near Taree!

On the Tuesday we drove along a tourist drive that took us past lakes and coastal views before going to Newcastle for some shopping. Newcastle was a pretty horrible town with not much in it –Ryan compared it to Newport. Luckily there was a huge shopping centre just outside it, in Charlestown, which we went to instead! We then drove down the highway to stop at a service station for the night. This service station turned out to be the place where we’ve spent the most nights as the surrounding councils seemed to ban camping from every single place anyone would possible consider pulling up in to camp –even tiny lay-bys! So on Wednesday morning we headed back towards the coast and visited some of the lakes, Lake Macquarie and Lake Munmorah on the way. We found a nice little walk on a tiny island at Lake Munmorah which was joined to a public park via a little bridge. We then stopped at some lovely beaches. The first one we stopped at was a dog beach and we saw the funniest collie dog that was chasing the waves. But he wasn’t just running into them he was waiting for the really long ones and then running all the way along them as the wave broke! I wanted to steal him! We then went to another beach down many, many steps with sand and rocks to climb on. We managed to get a bit stuck in the car park though as a burnt out minivan was being towed and they’d decided to park behind us as they loaded the van on. One man was winching the van up all by himself until someone called a group of lads over to help. It looked like hard work! We then drove to The Entrance a very touristy town where the lake joins the sea. We bought some curry to share by the lake, had a look through the town where we found a yummy sweet shop with delicious white chocolate frogs. Ryan got his own body board and we watched the pelicans being fed. A very funny site with them all with their huge beaks in the air squabbling over the fish. We then walked to the beach with our body boards before realising it was a bit rocky so floated on them in the lake instead. The water was absolutely freezing! After our swim we shared some chips before heading to Norah Head lighthouse. We went down the stairs to the beach which was just made up of huge rocks to climb upon, with channels between them where the waves came splashing up. There were a lot of fisherman around here so the waves must have been bringing all the fish in. We set up camp in a beach car park when we saw a few other people already parked up there. It was a little strange as there was a proper campsite just a little way away along a little path. We decided to make good use of their facilities and did our washing there, which had been becoming an urgent matter for some time! We even used the tumble dryer so we didn’t end up with clean but smelly wet clothes. We then drove down the coast to MacMasters beach where we met Guy, my housemate from Brisbane. He’d been staying with family friends there and his family were also over to visit. We did a bit of body boarding before the waves started to bring ridiculous amounts of seaweed into the beach and we had to get out. We sat in the natural saltwater lagoon for a while and then headed to the house where Guy was staying. Everyone was really lovely and they let us use their showers and park up by their house for the night (actually in the neighbour’s driveway as they were out- but they seemed to think it would be alright). It was so nice to be clean again as it had been a while since we’d found a shower! The evening was spent hanging out while Guy and his sister were babysitting the kids as all the parents had headed out for dinner. We even got to cook on an actual cooker!

So the next day was New Year’s Eve. We drove to Gosford and caught the train into Sydney as it would have been too ridiculous to even attempt to drive to Sydney. The train was really full, but we ended up sitting next to a nice man who was asking us about our trip and telling us how he’s going to the UK in July for 40 days to tour it all –he was asking our advice on where to go as he hadn’t really made many plans at all. It seems so strange that he’ll be able to go everywhere in that time as everything is all so close compared to the distances we’re travelling here. We got off at central and walked through the centre of Sydney to Circular Quay where the Harbour bridge and Opera House are. It was exciting to be in Sydney and walking down the streets it felt a bit like London. We bought bread and dips for dinner en route and got food down by the harbour. It was amazing to see the Opera house for the first time after seeing it every year on television. This year we’re actually in Sydney for New Year’s Eve! We were meeting Guy at Mrs Macquerie’s Point so made our way there, getting lost a few times on the way. When we got there the cue was ridiculously massive –there must have been thousands and thousands of people in it. We joined the back of the constantly growing line and had only been there a minute when Guy came wandering over. He had been in the cue for 2 hours and just happened to be parallel to us...so we sneaked over and joined the cue with his family. We ended up only cueing for about 20 minutes! It was already really busy by the time we got in the gardens so we set up camp in the shade of a tree and decided to just find a spot when it was firework time as all the good places would have already been taken. The afternoon was spent just lazing around in the sun and playing games. At around 8 we started packing up to get ready for the 9pm fireworks. We managed to get a really good spot on a pathway right in front of the fence. I think we managed to time it just right as earlier all the pathways were being constantly cleared. The fireworks were really good and we could see the Opera house and the bridge from where we were. After the fireworks we moved up the bank and found a spot where we could watch the flotilla of lit boats. They had lights all along their sails and looked really pretty sailing around the harbour. At this point everyone except me, Ryan, Guy and his sister, Charlotte headed home with the kids. We found a spot on the bank to sit for a while, eating some ice cream while we waited for the 12am fireworks. They were lighting hourly teaser fireworks leading up to it and then more often between 11 and 12. Just after 11 we went to find a good place to watch them as everywhere seemed to be filling up. We managed to get ourselves on a path along a steep hill where we could see the bridge and would have a firework display right in front of us. There was a security guard trying to keep the path clear but her efforts were comical. If she did manage to get someone moved they would instantly be replaced before eventually she seemed to give up and disappeared. The fireworks were amazing we had displays going off in front of us and to both sides as well as the harbour bridge to the left. Definitely worth the wait and I would definitely recommend going to Sydney for New Year. Next time I go, hopefully I’ll be rich and will be watching from one of the boats moored in the harbour! The only negative thing was that they didn’t seem to do a countdown for the 12pm fireworks they just started all of a sudden and no one knew if it was New Year or not! It was odd as there had been a countdown on the screen for the 9pm fireworks but it hadn’t been there when it was actually New Year.

Anyway...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

After the fireworks we headed towards town. It was completely packed. We amused ourselves jumping in some Asian tourist’s photo without them knowing as it was on self timer then slyly walking away. They were laughing when they looked back at the photo too so they didn’t seem to mind. We had the first paddle of 2011 in the fountain and decided that we must do more paddling in 2011. Then wandered down the main street towards the harbour. It was mayhem! There were families, people heading home, people completely wasted, people fighting and police riding around on horses. On the way back to the station I saw my first bitch fight- 2 crazy girls were punching each other. I think that after the fireworks it’s probably best to leave Sydney as soon as possible and get away from all the crazy people. On the train there was a scary woman who seemed to have blood in her hair and a slash on her face and kept falling asleep and then panicking that she had missed her station. When we eventually got back to the van we drove to the service station where we had stayed before, as the sun was rising. Parked behind a lorry so that we’d be in the shade and managed to get a few hours sleep. New Year’s Day was 37˚C, so we spent the day avoiding the sun in a shopping centre and sitting in the shade by a beach before heading back to the service station to use the internet and sleep.

The next day we drove further towards Sydney and got the train in from Hornsby as it’s a shorter journey. We had a look around the shops but managed to get lost in the ridiculously large shopping centre and then headed to the harbour. We bought cupcakes en route which we ate sat outside the Opera House. The Opera House seems different up close as the sails aren’t actually all joined together. We went inside to the box office and shop but we weren’t able to look in any of the theatres without paying for a tour. We then headed back into town for dinner at pizza hut. We got the buffet so got some extra slices which we sneaked into our bag for lunch the next day. But we thought it wasn’t stealing as we had actually paid for it... We then got the train back in the rain and found a lorry rest stop to sleep the night in.

The next day we drove into Sydney with the intention of going to Bondi Beach but got distracted on the way by a signpost to Sydney Olympic Park. It is a massive sporting complex, absolutely huge. Everything was pretty shut though but we had a walk around the outside before going to the Olympic Aquatic Centre. We swam in the Olympic competition pool! We also completed a giant inflatable obstacle course in the Olympic swimming pool. It has now been turned into a leisure facility with a fun pool with toys, slides, river rapids and Jacuzzi. Ryan managed to complete the obstacle course first time but I fell in –I did it on the second go there, even if I was very slow and the kids behind me were telling me to hurry up :s. We then drove into the Blue Mountains to camp as we would be exploring there the next day.

In the Blue Mountains you can drive along the highway without realising where you are as it is set on a ridge and you’re unable to see the scenery to either side because of the buildings and trees. So when we went the little way off the highway to Wentworth Falls it was amazingly beautiful. They’re called the Blue Mountains because all the eucalyptus trees give off eucalyptus oil creating a blue haze. We walked down loads of steps to stand on top of the waterfall and then walked around the side on the cliffs edge for close up views of the waterfalls. It was really beautiful but the walk back up was tiring! We then headed to Echo point to view the Three Sisters. The aboriginal dreamtime story about them is that 2 tribes were fighting and that the Chief of one tribe put a spell on his three daughters to turn them into rock so that they weren’t harmed in the battle. But he then died in the fight so the spell could not be reversed and they are still there today. Echo point was ridiculously busy though and we had to park 10minutes away to avoid paying for parking as they have made it ticketed absolutely everywhere –which is pretty rare for Australia. We’ve become accustomed to hardly ever having to pay for parking. We bought some fish and chips on our way out and ate them at Evans lookout. There are beautiful views everywhere in the Blue Mountains it seems. When we were there we saw a lyrebird which I think is pretty rare. I think they are the birds that copy other bird’s songs but I’m not absolutely sure. It looked a bit like a small grey bush turkey anyway. We then drove on to the zigzag railway, which zigzags down the mountains but there weren’t any trains running by the time we got there. So we drove back along a smaller road with much prettier views than the highway but some very steep hills as well. We stopped in a nature reserve in Bilpin for the night.

The next day we drove back towards the highway and headed into Sydney to finally go to Bondi Beach. Unfortunately I misdirected us and we got a bit lost in the big city. We made it in the end though. I wasn’t all that impressed by Bondi Beach though –it’s a nice bay but all the buildings around are pretty ugly though. I’m fairly sure I saw Nick from my family though...definitely someone famous at least as a small gay sounding man went up to him going “London, New York, LA....” and then hugging him like he sees him all the time in exciting places. It definitely looked like him and I’m pleased with my celebrity spottingJ. We also saw some filming going on at Bondi Beach...they were moving the flags so everyone had to get out of the water while they moved along. We wondered at first if it was a shark but it didn’t seem to be anything that exciting. From Bondi we headed to La Pereuse at Botany Bay –where Captain Cook first landed. It was interesting and pretty but not much to do there, the museum wasn’t even open.

We then drove down to stay near Kiami where we are now. It’s a nice little coastal town and is famous for its blowhole. It’s a rock formation where water gets pushed up through a hole in the rocks and spurts up when the waves come in. Everyone was oohing and aahing as if they were watching fireworks which we found quite funny! I’m now in the library writing this and it has taken a long time because I left it for so long! So I’m going to try and keep a bit more update now. Not sure what the plans are now but hopefully it will involve swimming in the ocean.

Lots of love

Claire

xxxx

Sunday 26th December –Boxing Day

Yesterday was a very strange Christmas day. Festivities in Australia are just not the same. Waking up in a campervan for Christmas just did not feel right! I did have a nice Christmas but I’m looking forward to next Christmas a lot more now.

We woke up and opened our presents –mostly from each other but we’d bought some with Christmas money we’d been sent for ourselves as well. I’d wrapped mine up so I still had something to open from my family (you got me 2 pairs of shoes, nail varnish and a water filter bottle). I also had an adventure book (a notepad to write down all our adventures in) and pen, a little turtle from Reef HQ that I wanted, now known as Mr Turtle, a pink book light, a book of over 365 chicken recipes (I’d told Ryan that I wanted to work my way through a cookbook but it would probably have to be a chicken one as i don’t eat much else), a rubber duck and some chocolates from Ryan and his parents and Santa.

We then headed to Cape Byron where we walked up to the lighthouse for a Christmas day walk and then had a Barbeque on the beach. We’d bought a disposable one so it actually tasted like BBQ. Our Christmas dinner consisted of chicken kebabs and barbequed sausages wrapped in bacon . We then jumped into the sea to use our new bodyboard that we’s bought on Christmas eve. After this the day was nearly over so we headed back to the campsite where I spoke to my family and we watched Wallace and Grommit before bed.

Today we’re driving down south to who knows where. Need to get some kilometres done to get us to Sydney for New Year. Apart from Christmas since I last wrote we drove from Bundaberg to Tin Can Bay where we spent a rainy day and then got up early in the morning for dolphin feeding! They are wild dolphins that come up to the jetty in the harbour because originally one of the dolphins in the pod was injured and fed back to health in the harbour, once better she carried on coming back to be fed bringing her pod with her. It is now her grandson and his girlfriend that come for feeding! It was amazing to be so close to a dolphin –they were so gentle and playful.

After feeding the dolphins we drove to Noosa where we went kayaking in the river and then koala spotting. I was so excited to see my first wild koala and on the same day as feeding a dolphin made for an amazing day!

We then went to Australia zoo the next day where some of the kangaroos had baby joeys- they were so so cute! I want one as a pet! We also got to look round the wildlife hospital. Which was pretty wierd as there were windows into the operating theatre and treatment room, where you could see koalas being treated and operated on. This was very strange to see.

We then headed to Brisbane and stayed at Sunbeam for 2 nights while we did our Christmas shopping and sorted the van out a bit. It was strange being back in Brisbane, like our trip was coming to an end –it almost felt homely! I wasn’t looking forward to going back at all but now i think it might be nice to stay in the same place for a while and think I may be getting a little attatched to Brisbane. From there we drove to Byron Bay where we spent Christmas eve doing a little shopping and then bodyboarding. The waves were very powerful though and I managed to get swept off by one and somersaulting underwater it was so powerful! That was pretty scary! I went back in for one more go though! And they waves weren’t so powerful Christmas day anyway.

Miss you lots, can’t wait to see everyone again as have been missing everyone lots at Christmas!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Lots of love

Claire xxx

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